Baby P #3: 38 weeks...

How far along:  38 weeks. The point where I always look tired and am never thrilled with photos taken of me. This may be the last update that includes a picture! 

How big is baby: heavy. at least that's how she feels these days!

What have you been up to: I'm still going crazy getting things ready over here. We've reached the point where we are ready, now it's just maintenance and other side projects that aren't "musts" but would be nice to have done sooner rather than later. I have the hardest time sitting down because I keep thinking of things to do, Ben mandated some rest time for me today and Amy took the kids for a couple hours making it possible. Thanks for taking care of me!

Maternity clothes: not in this picture actually, which is odd because there are very few non-maternity things that I can get to fit this growing belly. 

  

Sleep: has been surprisingly better the last few nights. 

Milestones: the nursery is done! I will post about that soon. 

Best Moments: Having an impromptu date night last night thanks to my in-laws!

Worst Moment: false labor last weekend. Sunday morning I was up at 3am with contractions and never got back to sleep. That was a rough day and made me more ready than ever to meet our little girl. 

Food cravings: fruit and salads.

Food aversions: none.

Symptoms: lots of contractions and cramping, but nothing consistent or painful. 

Movement: same as usual, lot of big movements. 

Gender: girlie

What I’m looking forward to: I'm just ready to meet my daughter, to be done wondering when she'll be born.

What I’m nervous about/praying for: I'm constantly worrying over (and praying about) her arrival date. I really don't want to miss Malakai's first day of school which is in less than 2 weeks. I'm hoping that she will arrive this weekend or some time this next week.

What I miss: being able to move with ease. Getting up from the floor or sometimes the bed/couch is quite the effort.  

Next appointment: tomorrow morning. 

Weekly Wisdom: everything to God in prayer. 

family + maternity photo shoot

We haven't been great about documenting this pregnancy in photos, especially consistently posed and timed ones. Also, in an ideal world we would have done some updated family photos at least a year ago, and then some maternity photos much earlier in this pregnancy when I wasn't feeling so swollen...but all those things aside I really love the photos we got today.

My mom came out to our place to take photos this afternoon. We simply went down the street a few blocks to an orchard right next to our favorite park. The lighting was perfect, the weather was comfortable and the boys were cooperative. It was some kind of blessed event!

So here are pictures of my sweet family; Malakai at 5 years old, Desmond at nearly 3 (in October), and baby sister at 37 weeks 2 days. 

Baby P #3: 37 weeks

{9pm is not the best time to get a good photo...}

How far along:  37 weeks

How big is baby: approximately 18.-9-20.9 inches and 6.2-9.2lbs (quite the range!)

What have you been up to: nesting like crazy. Today alone I cleaned up the boys' toy storage in the garage, added a bedskirt to the crib, made a carseat canopy, had a play date and made a Target run, organized my entire craft cart, rearranged some storage in the garage and the baby's room, set up all her headbands + clips, Ben + I arranged the poms in the photo above and did some other decor brainstorming, plus the usual chores of dishes and laundry and kid wrangling. Ben is currently setting up the co-sleeper in our room. 

Maternity clothes: maternity tanks and maxi skirts during the heat, but thankfully we've had a reprieve and I've been able to wear T's and jeans a couple days. 

  

Sleep: lots of tossing and turning. 

Milestones: full term!

Best Moments: watching my boys play with dolls and stuffed animals, pretending to take care of baby sister. They are so excited to meet her!

Worst Moment: injuring my back last weekend. I was out for a few days and it was super stiff and painful. I can't exactly pinpoint what I did but it was different and worse than my previous injury...and I was JUST discharged from PT for that one! Thankfully I'm doing better, I was so worried I'd go into labor with my back messed up!

Food cravings: chocolate.

Food aversions: none.

Symptoms: aches and pains. 

Movement: lots of kicks and bumps to the ribs. 

Gender: sweet little sister.

What I’m looking forward to: finishing up projects so we can relax and wait for baby girl's arrival.

What I’m nervous about/praying for: I can't help but constantly wonder when she'll be here!

What I miss: being able to bend down without involuntarily holding my breath. 

Next appointment: Last week started weekly visits, so I'll see my doc again end of next week. 

Weekly Wisdom: listen to your body and slow down before you overdo it...I've NOT been doing this!

27 weeks, then + now

I love to compare + contrast...not in the unhealthy way that the internet has been abuzz about lately. I do my best to not compare myself or my children to other people. What I do like to compare is what my kids looked like at the same ages, what they look like compared to Ben + I as babies/kids,  and what I looked like with different pregnancies. I find it interesting and so here is a comparison with some very "dated" photos of my 3 pregnancies at about 27 weeks...

Ben + I in 2009 expecting Malakai, Ben, Malakai + I in 2011 expecting Desmond, and me last week in the newly painted nursery expecting our baby girl. 

These aren't perfect comparisons where I managed to somehow wear the same thing (although I do still have that dress and that top), nor am I standing in the same way or in a similar place, but it's fun to look back and see how I was carrying differently at this point 5 and 3 years ago. 

I'm so curious to see how little sister looks compared to her brothers. When Desmond was born he looked so different than Malakai and while I still see a lot of differences in them they do look alike. I'm overdue to do a comparison of Desmond to how Malakai looked at his age, but I still plan on posting that soon. 

Baby P #3: 27 weeks

How far along:  27 weeks, 1 day

How big is baby: comparable to a rutabaga...I don't even know what that is but apparently it's approximately 13.6-14.8 inches and 1.5-2.2lbs

What have you been up to: projects, projects, projects. We've painted the house, I threw a baby shower for one of my bests, and I did some decorating and lots of cleaning. 

Maternity clothes: yeah yeah. maxi skirts are my favorite right now. 

Sleep: odd. some nights are great, others are difficult but I've definitely crossed into the weird dreams stage. 

Milestones: 3rd trimester, just 9-13 weeks to go!

Best Moment:  seeing my lovely friend Lindsey and her adorable first baby bump, and showering her with love and gifts to welcome her baby girl. 

Worst Moment: lots of parenting challenges, I blame sick and allergy ridden kiddos. For those of you who don't know, we live in the allergy capitol...literally. 

Food cravings:  desserts, all the desserts. I've been brushing my teeth right after dinner as motivation to not eat dessert, ha!

Food aversions: heartburn is still keeping me away from anything even mildly spicy or fried. Although, I've not really a fan of fried foods anyway. 

Symptoms: aches and pains that come with a growing belly and a weak back. I'm so thankful for physical therapy. I already feel like I'm on my way to being stronger for this labor + delivery. Allergies (hay fever) are far worse while pregnant, and heartburn is coming back with a vengeance. 

Movement: a lot more big ones, and she's moving more often. She used to only move when I'd sit or lay down but she's been bopping around in there while I've been on the go the last week. I love it. 

Gender: girl!

What I’m looking forward to: my friends are throwing me a baby shower later this month and I'm so excited to see so many family and friends!

What I’m nervous about/praying for: I'm not nervous about child birth but I'm definitely praying for it to go smoothly. 

What I miss: I found myself missing cocktails the other day, silly Pinterest with all your summer drinks! We rarely even drink, especially cocktails, but man they looked good!

Next appointment: next week for glucose blood draw, rhogam shot and whooping cough vaccine. joyous occasion indeed. 

Weekly Wisdom: don't forget about your ab muscles. That comes from my Physical Therapist. I've found my back is becoming stronger as I learn to focus my stretches and exercises and a big part of that is flexing ab muscles instead of ignoring them. 

Here are the boys joining in on our photoshoot...

 {airplane}

{it's blurry, but I love this picture of Kai. 

He's so sweetly disappointed

 about not getting to use the camera}